Last weekend, Cypress Lake High School performed “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.” It’s an electropop opera based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”
“It's 18th century meets techno musical,” senior Gigi Lieze-Adams observed. “It's not fully an opera. It has these modern, funky elements to it. It's definitely not your average musical theater.”
Lieze-Adams played the female lead in the show, a young and impulsive girl by the name of Natasha Rostova. Accompanied by her cousin Sonya, she comes to Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines in the war to repel Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Soon after, she attends “The Opera,” where decadent Moscow society convenes to party and carry on. There, she meets, is seduced by and falls under the spell of a young officer named Anatole.
“She's very young, she's very impressionable, and you watch her fall in love and deal with betrayal and guilt,” said Lieze-Adams of her character. “Natasha really doesn't know how to navigate her feelings, so she ends up making some questionable choices.”
Having an affair as an engaged woman was scandalous in Moscow at the turn of the 19th century, not just for the woman but her entire family. To make matters worse, Anatole is married and a notorious player. So, her godmother and cousin prevail upon a family friend named Pierre to intervene and help Natasha put back the pieces of her shattered reputation.
“She has to deal with the repercussions of her bad decisions,” Lieze-Adams added. “She really goes through quite a vast arc throughout the whole story.”
It was a highly ambitious production, with a cast of 30, a multi-tiered set, dozens of period costumes that possess a rave, punk flair, and hundreds of lighting cues. As a techno-opera, there’s not a single line of dialogue and the two-hour show was performed to the accompaniment of the school orchestra.
“Not many high schools would ever attempt this style and this vast of a show,” acknowledged Lieze-Adams, who recently made her directorial debut at Cypress with “Lord of the Flies.”
“The show is a very complex mix of genres and storylines,” added Samantha Boddicker, who plays Pierre’s wife and Anatole’s sister Helene. The musical first came on Boddicker’s radar a couple of years ago.
“I was just flipping through musicals and heard the prologue,” said Boddicker. “It was really interesting to me, so I listened to the rest of it on Roadtrip [an app on streaming services like Paramount+ for music fans] and loved it. So, I was thrilled when I found out we were going to do it [at Cypress].”
The play is fairly recent.
It premiered at Ars Nova in New York City in 2012, then moved to Broadway after a brief off-Broadway stint. Noted for its daring score and bold storytelling, the Off-Broadway run garnered wins in 2013 for Off Broadway Alliance Award, Best New Musical; Obie Award, Special Citation; and Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater. The Broadway production resulted in 12 Tony Award nominations in 2017, including Best Musical, Book, Score and Orchestrations, and two wins.
The show also received three 2014 Lucille Lortel Awards.
“It was bold, new, grotesque and scandalous,” Lieze-Adams conceded. “It was really quite a push for high schoolers … kind of like ‘Cabaret’ or ‘Chicago’ in the sense of making the audience feel uncomfortable in a good way.”
Lieze-Adams distinguished herself in the role of Natasha. Not only did the part challenge her vocally with its upper soprano register, but it also pushed her as an actor. In the latter capacity, she was aided by her recent experiences directing “Lord of the Flies.”
“Being a director really helped me understand all the elements that go into a show and learn how to respect the director's vision for the show,” said Lieze-Adams. “I found I was able to really take in everything Carmen Crussard was saying and make sure that her vision is what I brought to life in the show.”
A lesser talent might have been dwarfed by the size of the stage (which extended into the audience via three runways) or lost in the ensemble as they danced and gyrated through multiple party scenes. Not Lieze-Adams. She was in full command of the stage and auditorium in each of her scenes, particularly her solo, “No One Else,” and frenetic interludes with Anatole, “Natasha and Anatole” and “The Ball.”
Lieze-Adams will next appear at Cypress in “Frozen.”
She has her sights set on a BFA in musical theatre and has begun the arduous process of applying to colleges. In fact, she filmed her first pre-screen video prior to final dress rehearsal and will be lining up visits and auditions over the coming weeks and months.
Boddicker is also beginning the application process.
“I’m hoping to get my BFA in acting and really just go wherever I can from there,” she said. “I really love to tell stories, and this is my favorite way to do that.”
Boddicker credits her father with guiding her onto the path she’s presently following.
“Right after the pandemic, my dad was looking for ways for me to get out of the house. Gulfshore Playhouse was doing a summer camp production of ‘Grease.’ My dad convinced me to audition, and I got into the ensemble, and I had more fun than I've ever had on stage. I was like, oh, this is what I love to do.”
Since then, she’s been in “Clue” and “The Wedding Singer.” Most recently, she played the part of Simon for Lieze-Adams in “Lord of the Flies.”
As Helene, Boddicker was striking, exerting a catalytic presence that moved the story forward.
The show included a number of other standouts.
Gabriel Cruz was masterful as Anatole. Cruz, a junior, been performing in theatre since he was in kindergarten. He has done Kids, Juniors, conservatories, and professional shows with Fort Myers Theatre, The Belle Theatre, Gypsy Playhouse, Broadway Palm and at Florida Rep Education. He also has attended the Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta three times. Some select favorite credits are Sonny in the Alliance Youth Theatre’s production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights,” Oliver in “Oliver!,” “Heathers,” “Mary Poppins,” Brett in “13 the Musical,” Jack in “Finding Neverland,” Kurt/ Friedrich in “The Sound of Music” and Young Emilio in “On Your Feet.” This spring he will be playing Harold Hill in "The Music Man" at his school. Most recently, he appeared at Cypress Lake for Lieze-Adams in “Lord of the Flies.”
“Theater just gives me an opportunity to express myself, really step out of my comfort zone and be someone who I’m not,” Cruz said during “In the Heights.” “I like creating art. It’s fun to make choices. Meet different people. I love it.”
Also exceptional as both singers and actors were Jackson Halliburton as Pierre, Lorian Moore as Nastaha’s solicitous cousin Sonya, and Isabela Oren as Marya D.
Liam Martinez plays Dolokhov, Taylor Barbaro was Bolkonsky/Andry, Reagon Fournier was Mary and Christian Varela played Balaga.
Crussard’s talented ensemble included (alphabetically) Olivia Anderson, Jayelynn Baughmann, Geira Cameron, Katie Cook, Vanissah Fabre, Genevieve Haas, Peyton Hemmer, Olivia Johnson, Miracle Joston, Karrington Kennelly, Jayla Lawyer Pair, Zoey LaVangie, Ella Maas, Tristan Michael, Grace Olsen, Rose Schoenfeld, Harper Schoenfeld, Olivia Schiller, Lydia Schuller, Reagan Strachan and Jianna Zaliagiris.
Cypress Lake High mainstage and black box productions are open to the public. Under the direction of theater teacher Carmen Crussard, Cypress Lake will produce "Frozen Jr." Jan. 22 and 23, Noel Coward's "Blythe Spirit" Feb. 20-22 and "Eurydice," by Sarah Ruhl, April 9-12.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
